Kevin Durant scored 29 points to lead the United States past Spain. “He was who we need him to be,” Draymond Green said.
There were 13 seconds left on the clock when Kevin Durant found himself gliding to the basket with no one around him. He ascended smoothly to the rim and dunked the ball with two hands. When the buzzer sounded moments later, Draymond Green jogged over to Durant, grabbed his hand and thumped his chest. It seemed like a gesture of both celebration and appreciation. Having one of the most complete scorers in the universe on your basketball team has its advantages. That is a lesson Green and his United States teammates were happy to learn on Tuesday afternoon — a luxury they have needed to exploit over these past couple weeks — as Durant took control of their do-or-die Olympic quarterfinal matchup against Spain, scoring 29 points to lead the Americans to an initially nervy, but ultimately comfortable,95-81 win. “Kevin Durant was great,” Green said. “He was who we need him to be. He showed why he’s arguably the greatest player in the world.” The win sent the United States to the semifinals of the men’s tournament, where they will meet the winner of a contest between Argentina and Australia. Since the start of their preparations for the Games, the American players have spoken openly about the fact that they are still learning to play together as a group, rather than merely an assemblage of individual stars. They lost two exhibition games before leaving home and then started their Olympic campaign with a defeat against France. The good thing, Green said, is that they continue to improve. The only bad thing, he said, is that there is not much time remaining for them to figure it out.
